Saturday, July 21, 2012

Gas station turned tow shop

Team Fresno
Team member - Chris
Location - Sanger, ca

We were driving from Minkler over to Kingsburg and had to take a little cruise thru Sanger...on our way Chris was showing me where their 2nd tow company and storage yard was located and where he worked when it was still theirs. As we drove by we realized it was a former gas station. The service bays are now used to store impounded vehicles that cannot stay outside. The cashiers office was where Chris' office was at.

It is still a tow company with the same name, just not run by Chris' family anymore.

Dancin to the jailhouse rock

Team Fresno
Team member - Chris
Location - Kingsburg, ca

This old jail was closed up for a long time, and transients were living in it at one point. The police department had to tell them they couldn't stay there because it's illegal to place someone in a jail cell without any charges. In 2005 the city renovated the old jail and turned it into a small museum for all to enjoy

Well I was born in a small town

Team Fresno
Team member - Chris
Location - Minkler, Ca

Minkler lies between Fresno and Reedley on highway 180 on the way to Sequoia National Park. About the only place of interest in Minkler is the Minkler Cash Store. The town was also once placed for sale on eBay. The population of Minkler is a whopping 30!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Town Square Clock

Team: Snap Happy (Jen, Chrissie and Mallory)
Team Member: Jennifer
Location: Copperopolis, CA
Photo credit: Roy Vogel
On the return home from Columbia, hubby and I stopped at a cutesy little town in Calaveras County. This is the NEW Copperopolis. The old town is just a stop on the road with some churches, bars and stores. 
Copperopolis Town Square is  a whole new town with a historic past. Embracing its proud heritage and cherished way of life as a once thriving 1800's mining town, Copperopolis Town Square has been reborn as an all new blend of shops, restaurants and residential lofts. 

Designed around a traditional, pedestrian-friendly town square, the timeless architecture and covered walkways harken back to another era, yet provide all the luxury and convenience of a modern retail setting.
Just to prove a Team Member actually appears in the top photo, here is a detail enlargement of the same shot.

And a bit of history: Copperopolis is famous for the shack on Jack Ass Hill, where Mark Twain is purported to have written one of his most famous works, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Author K. Martin Gardner expounds on this literary history, and Twain's friendship with renowned scientist of the time, Nikola Tesla, in his novel of the town's name,Copperopolis.